Blackberry Companion Plants: Planting Near Blackberries
Planting near blackberries helps you to maximize your growing space with other possible benefits. With this in mind, I started looking for some good blackberry companion plants to incorporate near our blackberry bushes.
Blackberries tend to need a little space to spread out. They can grow tall and unwieldy if not trained or given proper space.
Check out some ideas for good blackberry companion plants.
What grows well with blackberry bushes?
Blackberry bushes grow well with herbs like borage, lemon balm, bee balm, mint, thyme, and chives. Rose bushes, beans and peas also do well when planted near blackberries.
Can you grow blackberries and grapes together?
Both grapes and blackberries generally need a lot of space to spread and grow. For this reason, it is typically best to leave a good distance between grapevines and blackberry bushes.
What Not to Plant with Blackberries
Avoid planting blackberries with other crops that tend to multiply vigorously and those that are heavy feeders. Avoid planting asparagus near blackberry bushes as the roots may compete with each other. Also avoid planting blackberries near nightshades like tomatoes, eggplant, and potatoes.
Some mixed advice surrounds different fruit companion plants for blackberry bushes. Planting blackberry bushes with other brambles may prove problematic if both try to spread vigorously over the same area.
Companion Plants for Blackberry Bushes
When you’re looking for what to plant near blackberries, keep in mind different herbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables may be suitable planting companions.
Many times, gardeners give blackberry brambles their own room to ramble. Still, so often a bit of extra space can be valuably used for other crops and plantings.
Here are some ideas of what to grow with blackberries:
Vegetable and Fruit Companion Plants for Blackberries
Growing companion fruits together can improve your blackberry patch. Consider these fruit companions for blackberry bushes.
Beans and Peas
Growing beans or peas near blackberries can be a match made in heaven. Peas and beans fix nitrogen in the soil, and blackberry bushes thrive on nitrogen.
Opt for bush beans and bush peas to avoid a climbing mess.
Blueberries
Requiring similar growing conditions, consider planting blueberries and blackberries together. Both fruit shrubs thrive in full sun and somewhat acidic soil.
You can plant a mini fruit orchard in your backyard with blueberries and blackberry brambles nearby each other. Grow them at least 5 feet away from each other.
Keep in mind that some blackberries will multiply abundantly from tip layering or new shoots. Leave enough distance between your plants to keep everything tidy and easy to access.
Strawberries
Can you grow blackberries and strawberries together? If you search, you’ll find gardeners in support of this as well as those against growing strawberries and blackberries together.
The truth is, your mileage may vary.
On the plus side, this combination can extend your fruit harvest! Pick blackberries from up high and strawberries from down below. Strawberries can also serve as good groundcover for blackberry plants.
On the minus side, blackberries and strawberries may both try to multiply, competing with each other.
Brambles like blackberries can often overtake a garden space when left to their own devices.
Flower Companion Plants for Blackberry Bushes
Sometimes growing flowers as companion plants makes the most sense. Give some thought to these planting combinations for blackberries.
Roses
Growing roses and blackberries together can be a successful plan. Enjoy the pretty pop of color and harvest the rosehips for your use at home.
Blackberry Companion Herbs
So often, herbs make incredible bedfellows and the same is true as far as blackberry companions.
Consider these herbs as great choices for what to plant with blackberry bushes.
Bee Balm
Pollinators will flock to your blackberry patch when you plant bee balm nearby the blackberries.
Borage
Likewise, borage is a pollinator magnet and will lure honeybees and other good pollinators to the garden.
Chives
Chives grow well beneath blackberries as a groundcover. They can also attract pollinators and repel Japanese beetles.
Avoid letting chives go to seed unless you don’t mind them spreading.
Hyssop
From the mint family, hyssop is believed to thwart garden pests like cabbage moths and flea beetles.
Lemon Balm
Hailing from the mint family, lemon balm and blackberries can grow nicely together. Lemon balm can attract pollinators and may also serve as a groundcover.
However, like mint, lemon balm can spread invasively, so consider using pots if you don’t want it to take over.
Mint
Although it is invasive, mint can be a good herb to plant near blackberries as its strong fragrance can confuse pests. Flowering mint may also attract bees and other pollinators.
Be sure to keep mint contained in pots or containers so it doesn’t spread like wildfire.
If you don’t mind the mint spreading, you can also use it as a groundcover for blackberries.
Thyme
Flowering thyme attracts pollinators and grows nicely beneath other plants. Thyme can be a good companion plant for blackberries.
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Controversial Companion Plants for Blackberries
Some gardeners tout rue and tansy as good companions for blackberries. Personally, with kids and a dog, I tend not to grow anything that’s considered toxic to humans or pets in any capacity.
Therefore, out of an abundance of caution, I do not recommend companion planting blackberries with tansy or rue.
Should you wish to try these as blackberry companion plants, please do so with extreme care where no kids or pets can get into them.
Finding the Best Blackberry Companion Plants
When looking for what to plant with blackberry brambles, keep in mind that the best planting companions for blackberries are the ones your family will enjoy most.
Try to plant near blackberry bushes what your family will eat or use.
Remember to keep in mind the potential for any blackberry companion plant to become invasive and take over an area.
By the way, if you enjoyed this post on finding good blackberry companion plants, you might also enjoy our post on how to propagate blackberries!
And, for more berry companions, since I’m sure you love those, too, check out these posts – conveniently opening in their own tabs:
Do you have any favorite blackberry companion plants or strategies to try? Feel free to ask any questions or share tips in our comments below. We love hearing from you!
Happy Gardening!
So I have a rodent problem, I made a fenced in shaded garden for my boysenberry and blackberries , and I thought planting mint will keep rodents away, and reading on your post chives and mint are perfect companions both are known to keep rodents away, I am so happy to see they are perfect companions thank you.
Hi E Smith – thanks for stopping by! I hope the mint and chives are able to help deter those pests! Best of luck with your garden! 🙂